


In another time

by KleinerDickerPinguin



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Reincarnation, Tumblr Secret Santa, my first fanfiction in this fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 22:02:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1099092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KleinerDickerPinguin/pseuds/KleinerDickerPinguin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“My name is Levi... you really don't remember me, right?” His voice was laced with sadness and a hint of disappointment that hurt Erwins heart. “I hope you come back safe...” And before the blond could manage another word, the man named Levi had climbed the small stair to the door and had left the bar without another word or glance back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In another time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thuginuniform](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=thuginuniform).



> phuuu o.o my first snk fanfiction... this one is dedicated to tumblr user thuginuniform as a secret santa gift <3 I hope you like it, since I am not a native speaker and my husband refuses to read eruri you have to bear with my grammar mistakes u.u I am sorry, I hope you still like it... have a very mery christmas everyone ^^  
> The songtext is from Alcest - Autre temps ^^ listen to this song on youtube, it suits eruri very well...

In another time

He had started working in the small piano bar when he attended college and needed money. Working in the night and studying during the day was hard at first but he got used to it pretty well, arranging himself with the little sleep and the constant awareness he needed to be on top grades and to fulfil his costumers wishes.  
The “Wings of Freedom” was a rather small and often crowded place with a large bar counter behind which he stood and served his clients and a small area with round tables and lamps on them and behind this was a heightened circular area with a piano and a microphone. He loved listening to the music the artists brought to him in their nightly sessions, enjoyed the freedom he had talking with the guests, serving them drinks and making small talk, always smiling and being able to forget his real world that lingered behind the doors that shut out the night from the warm inside of the bar.  
His boss was an old bold man with tons of wrinkles, always reeking of booze but he was kind hearted although a bit blunt sometimes. Dot Pixis seemed to have taken a liking in him and so he had particular free reign about nearly everything that had to do with the bar and the drinks he would serve, the amount of time he spend with his costumers and his shifts. And so he worked nearly every night with a passion that scared him sometimes but this place granted him a freedom his life outside did not. His family had a lot of expectations in him and he would fulfil them because he grew up with a certain sense of duty and he would not ashame his mother and father.

Erwin Smith was a handsome young man, tall, blond, stunning blue eyes and a charming smile that could win every person he had a conversation with. He was educated, well mannered and had the ability to seem friendly and cheerful every day even if he was not.  
The work in the bar had started as something he needed to save enough money to leave his parents after university and to pay his rent on his own – not that his father would not pay his bills, but Erwin preferred to be as independent has he could. And since Pixis paid him well he could not complain about the nightly work and he grew into the job like it became his second life.  
And the work at night kept him from to much sleep and dreaming. There were not many things Erwin feared in his life but the dreams he had since he could think scared him like nothing else. They where vivid, loud and touched parts of his heart and soul that where to deep to grab. The constant struggle against something so much bigger than him, the fear, the cries, the feeling of death and despair weighted heavy on his mind when he woke up, bathed in sweat, sheets disarranged and crumbled. He woke more than once screaming and crying. So he kept sleeping at the absolute needed minimum, avoiding everything that would make him dream and remembering. He was not even sure what it was that caused his daily nightmares but the feeling that overran him was so old, nearly ancient that made it seems like memories that where not his own.

The bar had regular costumers, he knew them all by name and he kept memorized their stories so he could ask after their families, their problems and their work, everything he could to make sure the people felt welcome and to create a place that shielded them from the outside reality, to let them forget and calm down, even if it was just for a moment.  
And then, there was this young man he recognized a few months after he had started working. He always sat near the stage, never ever went to the bar and rarely talked with the waiters. He never ordered alcohol and always seemed to be working, reading or just staring. He was short build, had pitch black raven hair, neck shaved into an undercut and his eyes... grey like the stormy clouds he loved to watch before the rain blurred the windows. Since they never interacted he knew nothing of this man besides his looks and his sitting habits. But he payed attention to him as often as he could afford it, studying his features, the way he switched through pages, how he observed the artists, how his eyes kept being glued to the piano and how his fingers seemed to play with the notes as if he was sitting on the small chair in front of the keys.  
And he knew that the raven watched him. Erwin felt those intense eyes in the moments he did not watch but every time he tried to catch those fierce orbs they looked away, avoiding eye contact at all costs.  
Erwin felt a strange pull towards this man, something he could not pinpoint. He knew that their was some kind of connection but... every thought was a loose end and vanished into nothingness, he could not finish them.  
And so he grew accustomed to their little game of watching each other and observing and it felt strangely right. The rare days when the raven was not around he felt cold and somewhat lost and the thought that the man he did not even knew had such a big impact on him scared him.

And then the day came, when he had to leave. He had to finish university abroad and would work for the company of his father afterwards and so his job in the little bar came to an abrupt end. On the day of his last shift, he felt the weight of sadness on his shoulders and when he stepped behind the counter for a last time, he nearly threw away all the sense of duty he felt towards his parents to stay.  
When the evening ended and the people left the establishment Erwin felt as if something of him went with the costumers and he made a last decision. The raven was the last, being consumed by a book and when Erwin was polishing glasses he looked up and said very quietly:

“I am going to leave after tonight. And I am not sure if I will ever come back.”

His voice was not as casual as he had hoped it would be but it was enough to get the attention of the other man who calmly closed his book and looked up. Storm met ocean for the first time and Erwin nearly gasped when his eyes locked with the other ones, a jolt that run through his spine caused him to shiver and something inside him knocked at his consciousness. A memory. A very faint. But he could not... grasp it. But it was a memory... His stomach nearly toppled over when the man stood up and slowly came to the counter, his movements feline and gracefully like somebody who knew his body very well.

“You always come back, Erwin. I will wait for you. I always do.”

Erwin felt how his mouth went open to say something, eyes wide with astonishment and he bluntly stared at the other male. Where did he knew his name from? And what did he mean with... he always waited for him. They had never met, that much was sure.  
But his voice seemed so familiar... his features, his grace... he had the feeling he knew this man so well but at the same time he was a stranger.  
“What do you... how... I mean....” Erwin was ashamed that the could not bring out something decent but he was overrun by feelings he had not expected and he did not knew he was capable of, not regarding somebody he did not know.  
“My name is Levi... you really don't remember me, right?” His voice was laced with sadness and a hint of disappointment that hurt Erwins heart. “I hope you come back safe...” And before the blond could manage another word, the man named Levi had climbed the small stair to the door and had left the bar without another word or glance back.  
“Levi....”  
Time passed quickly, weeks moulded into months and months into years. And all this time Erwin could not stop thinking about this name and his voice, his eyes and his deeply hidden sadness. It seemed like an eternity lay between them and he never thought he would meet that man again.  
When his father finally died and the company went over into his hands, he was free to get back to his home town again. Things had changed, buildings of his childhood had vanished and the streets looked so different now. He was a businessman now, tight schedules every day, working hard to keep up the reputation his father once had build and he tried to live up to the expectations that came with the name 'Smith'. And it took a while before he had the time to search for the old place that had one been an emotional shelter for him.

The small piano bar still existed and was crowded when he entered it, the first time in his life as a costumer and not as a bartender. He was not even sure if he would still be able to serve drinks anymore.  
Behind the counter stood somebody he did not recognize, a blond man, taller than him with a remarkable nose who did the job he once had done years ago. He felt pretty nostalgic, wandering around the people to find an empty space to sit. It seemed there was no music tonight so he stayed a while watching the people around him, savouring the scents and feelings that came with this place and it was a bit like coming home. The only person who was not here, was Levi. But what had he expected? That the raven really would wait over a decade for him to come back?  
Erwin snorted at the thought, finished his Whisky and stood up, when the door to the bar opened and a small person slipped through.  
“You are late, Levi.” The man behind the bar voiced.  
“Sorry Mike. Hanji kept me busy.” It was as if the man had not changed at all but Erwin knew he was wrong when he looked into the eyes that had haunted his dreams so long. They seemed colder, more experienced with the world and lonely.  
“Do you mind?” Was the next part of the conversation that dripped into Erwins mind and he saw the tall blonde – Mike – shaking his head and Levi went up to the stage, not looking around the nearly empty room and sat down behind the piano.  
The expression in his face changed the moment his fingers touched the keys and the first tone emitted from the black piano. And then Levi just started to play and Erwins blue eyes where glued to the small frame of the man, his fingers, his half lidded eyes, his slightly swaying body.

 _“Une prière lointaine que porte le vent du soir_  
Anime les feuilles dans leur danse alanguie.  
C'est le chant des vieux arbres entonné pour toi,  
Pour ces bois obscurs maintenant endormis.  
Sans nous attendre tant de saisons ont passé;  
Les feuilles dorées s'en allant mourir à terre  
Renaîtront un jour sous un ciel radieux,  
Mais notre monde érodé restera le même  
Et demain toi et moi serons partis.” 

He had never learned French and he did not understand the words Levi sang with a hoarse, nearly raspy but very gently and warm voice. But he knew they where directed at him and him alone. He had heard these words before, countless times, during his dreams and long long before. He had heard them from the very same man that sat at this instrument, playing notes so ancient and his heart nearly was ripped in two.

 _“A faraway prayer carried by the evening wind_  
 _Animates the leaves in their languorous dance_  
 _It's the hymn of the old trees, sung for you_  
 _For those somber forests which are now asleep_  
 _So many seasons have passed without waiting for us_  
 _The golden leaves falling to the ground to die_  
 _Will someday come back to life beneath a radiant sky_  
 _But our eroded world will remain the same_  
 _And tomorrow, you and I will be gone_ ”

And suddenly Erwin remembered. He remembered all the other occasions he had listened to this song before, always accompanied by his own voice telling the other male he promised he would remember him, he would find him through every time and every place they lived in. That they belonged together like the sun and moon, like the sky and the stars...

The moment the last note was played and Levi stood up slowly, eyes wandering through the room he found Erwin and his eyes slightly widened. And he knew... he knew that Erwin remembered him.  
They were fast with getting to each other, Erwins tall frame nearly crushing Levi when he pulled him close, arms wrapped tightly around his rather small body, face buried in the crook of his neck, deeply inhaling his scent and warmth.  
“I am so sorry... I kept you waiting...” His voice was muffled and not strong at all, full with emotions and despair and relief that everything suddenly made sense.  
“Shhh... it is okay... I told you I would wait for you... and I knew you would come back, Commander.” He felt his breath hitching in his throat, his fingers clinging into the fabric of Levis shirt when the smaller male pressed himself into the embrace, eyes closed and heart beating frantically against his ribcage.

“I missed you.” Levis voice was weak now, the years of waiting and watching and being patient finally being over and he allowed himself to get carried away by the things that rushed through his mind. “But I knew you would come back. You always did... and now you finally are back to me. I hate waiting... I always did.”  
Erwin chuckled, a strange sound that was not happy but not sad as well and it prevented him from spilling tears. “I am not leaving you again, my dear Captain.”  
“I hope so, Commander... I hope so....”

In the background, Mike leaned against the counter, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. Pixis stood next to him and a sly grin crossed his face. “Took them long enough, hm?” Mike snorted and shook his head. “As long as they don't make out on one of the tables now...”  
“They already started kissing. We should leave them... come on, they waited long enough for this.” Another snort from the tall blonde before he followed the boss into the back, a small smile on his lips. Yes, this time it surely took a while before they finally found each other...


End file.
